On November 6, NJ Transit (NJT) hosted visitors at their Newton Bus Garage in Camden to explain how their first eight electric buses are performing. On that date, there were six buses in active service in Camden. Elsewhere in New Jersey, one is being tested on the Springfield Avenue corridor (Bus Route 25) in Newark out of NJT’s Ironbound Garage, and one is in the final stages of acceptance before it is put into service.
The visitors were members of ChargEVC, a not-for-profit trade and research organization that promotes electric vehicle use.
The Newton Garage is the first of NJT’s 18 garages to have electric buses on regular duty. There is charging capacity for 16 buses in the garage, so the next electric buses NJT purchases will likely also be based in Camden. Plans for expanding their electric bus fleet would place the next group of buses at the Hilton Garage in Maplewood. NJT is also building new electric bus–ready garages in Ridgefield Park and Union City.
The agency is under mandate to make 10% of their new bus purchases electric by next year and 50% by 2026, gradually working up to buying only electric buses by 2032. However, NJT has so far resisted quantifying those percentages, and the agency will continue to be buying diesel buses until 2032, meaning that diesel buses will still be on the road well after 2032.
While the agency says they have the funds to procure electric buses, they have not yet identified near or long-term funding to upgrade their depots with charging stations needed for electric buses, except for Ridgefield Park and Union City. That leaves it unclear whether they will have the infrastructure in place to meet their procurement goals.
The agency is still working with its bus and charging system suppliers to work out kinks and problems with the system, so they do not yet have enough data to estimate the reliability and operating cost savings with the electric buses.
So far, the new buses are popular with the drivers and attract the attention of pedestrians along the routes, who engage with the drivers about the buses. The agency has decorated each bus with its own exterior designs. An example of one is shown in the photo.